Employers help interns:

• Learn skills required in a field
• Gain knowledge of core activities within a role or field
• Learn how businesses operate and measure success
• Discover career paths

Interns help employers by:

• Adding new perspectives to the workplace
• Contributing to long-term workforce development
• Offering staff members the chance to mentor and teach
• Helping employers reflect on and improve their workplace culture

An employer’s role in the internship is to:

• Provide a work-based learning experience
• Provide supervision, feedback, and mentorship for the intern
• Ensure the safety of the intern
• Communicate with CNM if you have any needs for support or questions
• Ensure the mid-term and final evaluations are completed (especially for academic credit internships)

CNM’s role in the internship is to:

• Work with the employer, student, and faculty (when applicable) to maximize internship opportunities including paid internships and internships for academic credit to the greatest extent possible
• Ensure that all required documentation is complete for academic credit bearing internships
• Connect employers to grants, funding options, and external partners that support paid internship opportunities
• Recruit students/learners and graduates/completers
• Serve as a resource for the employer throughout the internship
• Serve as the formal employer for work-study internships to include paying the intern

The employer decides:

• Compensation level (if serving as host and employer of record)
• Role and duties
• If an academic credit-bearing internship is feasible
• Assignment of supervisor
• Assignment of mentor (highly recommended)

There are different types of internships that can be not-for-credit or credit-bearing opportunities. Internships can potentially be part of an academic credit-bearing course that is performed at an industry location and meets pre-determined learning objectives with a focus on providing practical work experience, while developing professional skills such as communication, problem-solving, and/or team-oriented work.

Learning outcomes/objectives describe the skills, knowledge, and abilities individual students should possess and can demonstrate upon completion of a learning experience or sequence of learning experiences. Learning outcomes are available at the “Program of Study” level in the Learning Outcomes Catalog and are also listed in the HireCNM system as a part of the student’s internship placement. Learning outcomes/objectives are agreed upon by the student, employer, faculty, and administration prior to the internship placement being finalized.

If a student is interested in receiving academic credit for their internship, they can contact their academic school at CNM or they can email [email protected] and a CNM Workforce and Community Success internship team member can help connect them to their school for internship course information. Credit-bearing internships can potentially be electives or required as part of their program.

In alignment with NACE internship best practices, the CNM Workforce and Community Success team collaborates closely with employers to create paid internship opportunities and identify optimal funding options. Below, you’ll find the current funding choices for employers to explore. If you would like to learn which funding option best suits your organization, please complete the Employer Internship Interest Form (link to form). Our staff will reach out to you within two business days with the next steps.

Below are some potential funding options:

• Employer Self Pay
• CNM Funding
• CNM Federal Work-Study Program
• Other funding types

For paid versus unpaid internships, information is available in the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division’s Fact Sheet #71 Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act.

If you would like the assistance of an internship coordinator to get started or have not hosted an intern before, complete the Employer Internship Interest Form, and you will be contacted within two business days by one of our staff with the next steps.

If you have an internship description ready to post, create or access your account in HireCNM. Our staff will review the internship posting, and you will be contacted within two business days.

HireCNM is CNM’s collegewide job system that includes an internship hub connecting employers, students, and faculty in a centralized online location to streamline the process for all stakeholders.